Democrat Shutdown Demands
Former president Barack Obama claims that “Republicans would rather shut down the government than help millions of Americans afford health care.”
IN FACT, Democrats are threatening to partially shut down the government unless Republicans repeal the Medicaid reforms in the Big Beautiful Bill and increase Obamacare insurance subsidies beyond the levels of Obama’s “Affordable Care” Act. That would mean:
- giving Medicaid to able-bodied adults who don’t care for young children and don’t spend at least 20 hours a week working, getting an education, or performing community service.
- giving Medicaid to certain non-citizen immigrants like asylees and refugees.
- bringing back Biden-era regulations that made it easier to enroll in Medicaid, a program that expanded from covering 2% of the population in 1966 to 29% in 2023.
- eliminating checks against fraud in Medicaid, which has the second-highest level of improper payments among all federal programs.
- extending a temporary Covid-era handout that increased Obamacare subsidies for households with incomes up to and beyond 400% of the federal poverty level — or $150,600 for a family of five.
